Looking at Modern Marketing Online

Author: sioframccarthy

Instagram’s uniqueness lies within its image sharing posting format. Due to this brands need to adapt their posts to suit this format. Also, because every user is posting images, they pictures need to stand out. Here are 5 Brands that I believe rock Instagram

Thanks for watching< I hope you enjoyed my video. Let me know what you thought in the comments below,
Chief

The medium of video is no new concept in marketing. Television advertisements have been around for decades and have always proved fruitful for advertisers.However the new world of marketing to the online viewer have drastically changed how we use the medium of video to reach our target audience. Today I will be discussing the Irish advertising success stories who ingeniously incorporated videos toward their online social media campaigns.

Guinness is famous world over for their beer and their creative advertising, they are well-known for producing some of the most heartfelt, uplifting advertisements that are hard to forget. One such example of this is the ‘Intolerant Champion’ about John Hammond and his defiance against Government law that banned Jazz which was deemed ‘black music’. Read more about John Hammond’s life here. The video is artistically shot in black and white featuring the voice narration of Danny Glover and the remix of sing sing sing This story aired as a Tv advert but gained success online with thousand of views on YouTube

This EuroMillions ad is one of my favourite in recent years due to the scale of its humour. It shows an Irish man winning the EuroMillions and deciding to buy an Island for the people of Ireland. We then see the Irish in full swing living on the Island, bringing with them some funny Irish-isms such as the ‘crisp sandwich’. This is a very entertaining watch and left a lasting impression on me It also shows the extreme wealth up to offer from the Euromillions.

Another ad here featuring similar humour as the Euromillions, the irish-ism appear once more This ad is set at a barbecue where the smoke from the fire is blowing in the guests face and practically blinding him but no matter what he wont complain or move for fear of ‘causing a fuss’. This style of video advertising is very clever as it taps into something every Irish person can relate to. The ad aired on Tv but also gained views online.

Twitter remains one of the most active social media sites out there so it is no surprise that many brands attempt to establish a following on the site. Here are the brands that I believe capitalise the most proficiently on the site:

McDonald’s is the worlds biggest and most recognisable fast food chains. It is no surprise that they have a dominant social media presence. Beating rivals Subway and Burger King.

On my analysis of McDonald’s Twitter page it is clear to see why they dominate in their field. Firstly, they actually have two Twitter accounts, one for their US and UK counterparts

McDonald’s UK Twitter

McDonald’s US Twitter

We can see that both accounts are run pretty much the same, just tailoring the content to suit the culture and products available of their respective areas.

Both the profile pictures are of the instantly recognisable ‘golden arches’.

The cover photo reveals McDonald’s recent ad campaigns, one being for the U.K.’s Christmas campaign and the other for the US’s thanksgiving campaign.

Regarding content, McDonald’s is very proficient, posting daily or every other day. Their content is also varied ranging from photos, videos, online competitions and retweets of post they believe their followers will enjoy

The content also attempts to make the tweets fun and interesting

McDonald’s makes an effective use of hashtags on twitter, they used this to their advantage when announcing their ‘All Day Breakfast’ on twitter. This was a huge success resulting in hundreds of thousands retweeting and using the hashtag.

Posts vary and contain humour, they post outfit ideas, relatable quotes, eye-catching imagery and links to their clothing website and to other bloggers who wear their clothing.

Encouraging engagement by retweeting followers tweets

Images posted are very eye-catching and colourful making their tweets very appealing their younger target audience of teenagers and fashion lovers in their twenties.

Typical Forever21 Post

Clothes ad on feed

Forever21 retweeting follower

I hope this post has enlightened you on how followers demand visually stimulating, interesting, varied and humourous content from the Twitter accounts they choose to follow. They also need to be encouraged to engage through retweets and replies. Thank you for taking the time to read this post, I would like to welcome any comments.

As more and more businesses venture online it is increasingly important to stand out from the crowd, and giving your business a strong Facebook page enhances its online presence. Existing and potential customers appreciate the ability to get in contact with a business with queries and inquiries

However, having a Facebook page that is not utilised properly can be more damaging to a business/brand than no Facebook presence at all. Therefore I have compiled a list of the 5 most important tips to Improve your Facebook page.

1.Timing

photcred:www.flickr.com/photos/smemon

The timing of your posts is crucial. It influences the numbers of people who view the post and therefore the traffic and interaction that viewers have with your page.

You can assess when your followers are online by checking your pages analytics, but just because your followers are online and active doesn’t necessarily mean this is the best time to post. According to Quicksprout.com the best time to post may be when your followers are not online, due to the competition of likes at this time.

Therefore I concur that late night/early morning posts are the best time to post as it will be the first post on viewers new feeds. This also avoids competitive posting times such as the 1pm-6pm time slot.

2.Enhance Your About Section

The about section, or lack thereof, is a great pitfall of many Facebook pages. For illustrative purposes I have contrasted a really well executed About section and a severely lacking one.

ASOS includes:

Their mission, which is a succinct explanation on what they aim for as a company

Further details on the company under the ‘about’, ‘company overview’ and’products’ headers

Humour within their page and asks viewers to get in touch, this warm attitude makes for a very appealing page

Xfactor lacks explanation on what the show is really about giving very little information and just posting links to other social media.

3.Encourage Engagement

It is crucial to encourage engagement on your page. This includes comments, likes, shares and asking questions. Nathan Ellering discusses how social media engagement can boost shared, from reading this article I can elaborate that the more content is liked and shared, the more people are going to see your posts. Here are some ways to encourage post engagement

Varying the content of posts– nobody wants to read the same post ten times over

Including images and videos– keeps the new feed interesting

Use humour– people react well to humour on Facebook and if they don’t, they are still reacting

Ask questions-asking opinions and views encourages engagement

Respond- responding to complaints, queries and general comments goes a long way with regards to engagement

4.Facebook Contests

Contests are an excellent way to get people onto and engaging with your page. Some contests such as car giveaways can be expensive but others are inexpensive such as submitting a photo to have it featured on the page as a prize

Mc Kinney Motors Competition

This hugely successful car giveaway on Facebook by Mc Kinney Motors in Armagh generated a boost of 70% for people liking the page. This particular post generated 32k likes.

5.Find your Niche

Finding your niche is easier said than done, but is essential to generating a fan base. People are always looking for the next cool thing.

A success story is the recent success of the food and cooking page Tasty, their niche is their succinct cooking videos that are only a few minutes long that show viewers how to male a range of easy meals.

A BuzzFeed production that spiralled into a following of over 70 million total page likes.

I hope these tips will come in handy with your Facebook endeavors. I welcome comments and questions, don’t forget to follow me,

You are probably wondering who is this person and what are they doing on WordPress.com?

Well, firstly my real name is not ‘Chief’ its Siofra. A mispronunciation which spiralled into a joking nickname to which I am referred to on a daily basis by friends. I plan on utilising this alias to its full potential in my blogging endeavors to mirror the achievements of ruthless chieftains of yore. I apologise if this is off-putting to you, my dear readers, but alas I shall continue .

I am currently a student in Cork Institute of Technology. I am in my second year of Marketing . I live in Cork on the weekdays for college and travel back to my family home in Clare on weekends.

I work part-time in McDonald’s Ennis . I love my job, especially the people I work with. I have met some interesting people and good friends from my time working there.

I am very interested in fashion and music.In particular, I’m obsessed with all things 70’s related from the style to the music and even the ‘hideous’ decor.

I am very passionate about marketing and all things social media related, my posts will focus mainly on these two topics and how they interlink with each other. I welcome comments and hope you enjoy my blog.